Day News Recap: Wildfires, regional violence and Trump Iran warnings dominate a crowded day

Wildfires dominated the day across Europe and North America, with more than 250,000 people forced from their homes in France and Spain as fast moving blazes stretched emergency services, while thousands of tourists and residents sheltered in Bordeaux after evacuations near the city.  🔗  🔗

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In Britain, firefighters were still battling a moorland blaze on Tintwistle Moor in the Peak District more than a month after it began, and police in Scotland declared a major incident as the Cairngorms wildfire widened evacuation zones and smoke warnings. In Essex, 20 firefighters were taken to hospital after a blaze at Highlands Farm near Rettendon spread to a fertiliser store and triggered a major explosion.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Canada also faced fresh fire danger, with lightning triggered wildfires spreading across western provinces and evacuation orders mounting as the country continued to battle what Prime Minister Mark Carney has called one of its most intense wildfire seasons.  🔗

South Asia saw a string of deadly developments. A suicide attack on a security checkpoint in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed 27 people, while separate monsoon flooding and landslides left at least 37 dead across Pakistan after days of heavy rain. India also said a Russian strike hit the Black Sea cargo ship MV Golden Leo near Odesa port, killing four Indian seafarers, and confirmed all 28 crew were safe after an attack on the LPG tanker Disha in Iranian waters.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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In the Middle East, tensions remained high as the Houthis claimed a missile strike on Jazan in Saudi Arabia, with footage appearing to show the Saudi Aramco refinery area hit, while Israel widened its crackdown in the occupied West Bank and arrested nearly 50 Palestinians in Tal after deadly shooting and settler violence.  🔗  🔗

The wider regional picture was also shaped by diplomacy and heritage concerns. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Syria for the first official visit by a serving UN chief in 17 years, UNESCO added six sites in the occupied West Bank and Lebanon to its endangered World Heritage list, and the ICC member states voted to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan after a misconduct finding.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Elsewhere, Romania said it shot down a suspected Russian drone near the Black Sea, the first such interception since the Ukraine war began, and Moscow installed officials in occupied Zaporizhzhia said a Ukrainian strike on holiday camps killed 11 people, including four children.  🔗  🔗

In the Americas and on the US political front, President Donald Trump said he had not made a final decision on major new strikes against Iran, even as he said Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin had told him China and Russia would not sell weapons to Tehran. He also switched aircraft after officials judged a reported Iranian proxy threat credible, attacked the media at a rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner, and said he was considering action over EU tech fines.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Trade and politics added to the pressure, with two US small businesses suing to block Trump's latest tariffs as they took effect, Canada opening the Gordie Howe International Bridge without US officials amid a worsening trade dispute, and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani backing away from a pledge to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city. Netanyahu's Washington visit was meanwhile confirmed for next week, while Australia's Labor conference adopted its Israel and Palestine platform without a floor fight and Venezuela said it would withdraw from the ICC over bias claims.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

In Asia and the Pacific, India defended its Great Nicobar Island project as a strategic asset in the Indo Pacific, China said first half water conservancy investment topped 515.1 billion yuan, and Indonesia began construction of the US$15 billion Makassar Strait North Hub gas project. In the United States, a Washington man was sentenced to 96 months for an April 2024 shooting, and federal prosecutors in Southern California filed 122 border related cases this week.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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